


Belonging

by Tiny_Snark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Gift Fic, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), They're still kinda broken though, Thor is a good brother, Worried Loki (Marvel), Worried Thor (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 12:48:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17044049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiny_Snark/pseuds/Tiny_Snark
Summary: The Asgardians got to Earth alright, with Thor leading them and Loki by his side once again. But a lot of work stands between them and a happy ending. Luckily, Thor has gotten quite a lot better at reading his little brother.





	Belonging

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bilboswaggins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bilboswaggins/gifts).



> Hey Sweetie, look, I wrote a very little ficlet for you! :3 You can take it as both a 'Yay you're a free gal!!' and an 'Early-Christmas-Gift' kinda thing I guess hehe. Hope you like it!

“You’ve been avoiding me.”  
Loki flinched, looking up at the sudden presence beside him. A sigh escaped him, a mixture of annoyed and impressed. “Since when have you been able to sneak around like that?”  
“I learned a thing or two over the past couple years,” Thor replied, unfolding his arms to take on a less defensive position. Loki did the exact opposite - taking a step aside and folding his arms before his chest. “Reading you is one of them. I can see that something is bothering you.”   
There was a silence, in which they looked on over their people, working hard to build up a makeshift home out of anything and everything they could find. Thor watched a couple of women carry heavy rocks to the center of their little village, building a well to get them fresh water. Everybody was doing their part. It made him quite proud of his people. They’d come a long way.

But he worried, nevertheless. About all kinds of things, that they would not make it through winter, that people would go hungry, that he might be a bad king. That his brother might run away again.  
“You haven’t answered my question,” he pointed out after the silence had dragged on for a couple of minutes.  
“It wasn’t a question,” Loki pointed out, his eyes fixed on something and yet not really seeing whatever he was looking at. “It was a statement. A correct one.”  
“Why, then?” Thor asked, his voice a bit gentler. He could act as hard and uncaring as he wanted, he would always have a soft spot for his little brother. The only family he had left. 

Loki didn’t reply right away, his face giving nothing away. At least it would seem like that for most people, but Thor had learned to see the very fine telltale signs that something was bothering him. The sort of pain and worry that he liked to mask with a sneer or a sarcastic comment. But he waited patiently, letting Loki answer at his own pace. Thor was fairly certain he already knew the answer anyways, the topic Loki had tried to avoid until he’d come to a conclusion. He wasn’t going to let his brother’s brooding go too far, though, knowing where it usually led.  
“I’m not sure I belong,” Loki said eventually. “To this planet, these people… All of it, really.”  
Thor hummed, he had expected an answer like that. “Neither do I,” he said, very truthfully.   
The comment seemed to surprise Loki, as he pulled his eyes from whatever he’d been staring at to face him. “You don’t know if you belong? You of all people?”

“Imagine that,” Thor replied, returning the look with a smile, though the troubles in his eyes did not get covered up entirely by it. “So many things have changed,” he began, “So much of what we’ve been told has been nothing but lies. I wasn’t the firstborn, I wasn’t the rightful heir to the throne.”  
“Of course you are, you’re a Prince of - “  
“I’m not even sure I’m fit to be a good king,” Thor continued, not letting Loki finish his objection. “I’m sort of improvising here. Bullshitting my way through, so to say.” He chuckled softly, then sighed, running his fingers through the still rather short hair. “And gods, I get the urge to run away so often. Leave behind my responsibilities and go back to just doing whatever I want to do. Don’t fail anybody by making mistakes. But you know what?”

Loki’s eyes were glued to Thor’s now, like he was captivated by what the man was saying. “What?”  
“There are people here that rely on me,” Thor told him, “That are worried and scared and very lonely. That need somebody to have their backs. I need to be here, cover their backsso they can keep going." He kept making eye contact with Loki, barely blinking. "All of us here don’t feel like we belong. But give it some time, things will get better. We're on a good way. And we’ll never let anything tear us apart again.”

He saw in his brother’s eyes that he understood, and he was fairly sure there was a faint smile on his lips, too. At some point when he’d been listening, he’d dropped his arms back to his sides. “You’re sure about that?”  
“Absolutely sure,” Thor assured with a nod and the kind of determination in his eyes that Loki had known since they were children. “Now go on, pick a place for your new home.”  
“After you,” Loki smiled. 

But as they walked down the hill to the village, they walked side by side.


End file.
